When it comes to protecting your fleet vehicles from theft, you have several options to choose from. It can be challenging to decide what features are most important for your fleet.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the top features to look for in a fleet anti-theft solution.
Understanding the motivation of a thief
Professional thieves are targeting your fleet vehicles. Typically they don’t want the vehicle, their motivation is the tools inside. The easiest way to get the tools is to steal the entire vehicle. They steal it then drive it to a remote location where they can take more time to open the compartments to get the tools. The vehicle is typically located a month later and returned with the significant damage caused by stealing the vehicle.
Sometimes fleet vehicles can have $25,000 or more in tools and are typically driven home by the employee at night. Making them venerable to theft because they are parked at night in a non-secure area.
The reality is that your fleet is being targeted by thieves.
Anti-Theft solutions for Fleet Vehicles
There are a few popular solutions that are marketed to fleet managers. Let’s breakdown the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
Puck Locks.
These locks are designed to protect cargo and tools against attacks. There are a variety of manufactures, and all feature hardened steel to defeat drilling out the lock core.
Advantage:
They make it harder for thieves to break open doors to steal tools.
Disadvantage:
Our fleet customers report that these style locks actually encourage thieves to steal the whole vehicle. Then they take it to a remote location where they have the time and tools to cut away these locks and get the tools inside. Watch the story of how one fleet manager tried everything to stop the thieves.
Vehicle Alarms
These systems are designed to sound an alarm when somebody tries to break a window or open a door. Some offer a kill switch to prevent engine ignition.
Advantage:
They can be inexpensive to buy and are designed to be installed quickly under the dash. Some have a remote key fob to turn on the alarm.
Disadvantage:
No one pays any attention to the car alarm sound. These are super easy to defeat because of the quick connections made during the installation. Also, they are all installed in the same location in every vehicle (under the dash on the driver side). So the thieves know exactly where to look and can easily unplug the alarm unit, start the vehicle and drive off in seconds. Watch this video on how easy it is to defeat a car alarm.
GPS trackers
GPS trackers allow you to track exactly where the vehicle is located. These are ideal for many applications like shipping departments and safety.
Advantage:
Vehicle data and location can be tracked to provide accurate routing, shipping delivery and a variety of other commercial applications.
Disadvantage:
They can’t stop vehicle theft. Since thieves need to work fast you’ll typically get just the vehicle back minus the valuable tools. Thiefs can also quickly defeat GPS trackers by just driving the vehicle to a parking structure where the signal is blocked.
Vehicle Immobilizers
These devices are designed to prevent the vehicle from being stolen by blocking the ignition from starting.
Advantage:
They offer dependable anti-theft vehicle protection because they are hard to detect. The best is the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device because its success comes from two parts. The first is the device itself. Simple to use and 100% effective at preventing theft. The second way the Ravelo is superior to all others is because of the target hardened installation. The Ravelco is installed in a location that’s hard for thieves to access, making it impossible for theft.
Disadvantage:
Some immobilizers aren’t installed with a target hardened installation making them venerable to defeat. Make sure you use the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device with the target hardened installation.
Ending thoughts
Choose an anti-theft solution that’s best for your fleet. Consider the motivation of thieves. Are they after your vehicles or are the after the tools and cargo. Choose a solution that provides that protects your vehicles from theft so they can’t get the tools. Remember that time is a thieves enemy. They only have one to two minutes to steal a vehicle. If they encounter a system that slows them down, they simply move on to the next vehicle. Make sure your vehicles are protected from theft.
We can show you how your fleet will be protected against theft. We’ve sold over 5 million units and the Ravelco has never been defeated. Give us a call today!
Video Case Study
Rescue rooter was loosing 12 vehicles a year to theft. They tried everything but nothing worked. So they found the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device. Not a single vehicle stolen since their fleet was protected.
